DeSantis Calls Off Search for University of Florida Dean

Florida governor Ron DeSantis intervened in the search for a new dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences at the University of Florida, according to reporting from The Miami Herald.

On Friday, the DeSantis administration ordered the institution to suspend its search a day  after the conservative social media account Commies on Campus claimed on X all four finalists were “radical DEI progressives.”

In response, Bryan Griffin, DeSantis’s communications director, posted on X, “Thanks for flagging this” and said that UF leadership was “cooperative” and had “committed to holding off” on the hire.

UF interim president Kent Fuchs sent an internal memo that same day confirming the institution had terminated the search, saying it was “inadvisable to appoint a new dean without the full participation of the next president of the university.” The university plans to restart the search process once a new president is in place, he said. 

On Friday, a spokesperson for DeSantis confirmed to The Miami Herald that his office had intervened. “Once brought to the attention of the office, we worked with the University of Florida to halt the search,” she said in a statement. “The candidates’ previous statements related to DEI raised concerns regarding their ability to administer quality higher education under Florida law.”

The Commies on Campus post also included clips from the candidates’ publicly recorded interviews for the role. One finalist in the now-suspended search, Robert Brinkmann, liberal arts dean at Northern Illinois University, was critical of the Trump administration’s cuts to federal research funding and attempts to ban diversity programs.

“It’s definitely a difficult time, and I’m sorry that our country is in this space where this is happening right now for our students,” he said. “Part of the reason why I’m interested in this job is, personally, I feel called to help a little bit as an out, older gay man, to be here for people at a time of crisis.”

Former U.S. senator from Nebraska Ben Sasse led UF for less than 18 months before stepping down amid questions about his spending. He was one of several current and past GOP politicians appointed president of a public institution by the governor and the Republican-led Florida Board of Governors.